[Neil Sharpe]

Interview Pharoah Sanders: "buying his first horn, playing with John Coltrane, and searching for the right sound."

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-new-yorker-interview/if-youre-in-the-song-keep-on-playing-pharoah-sanders-interview

 

[blue boy]

Re: Interview Pharoah Sanders: "buying his first horn, playing with John Coltrane, and searching for the right sound."

Thanks!!!!!!!!!

 

[rzzzzz]

Re: Interview Pharoah Sanders: "buying his first horn, playing with John Coltrane, and searching for the right sound."

great article. but it's got to be said that Ferrell Sanders did not become Pharoah Sanders until Sun Ra indoctrinated and renamed him.

 

[Sofiane]

Thank you very much for this!

 

[motteatoj]

Re: Interview Pharoah Sanders: "buying his first horn, playing with John Coltrane, and searching for the right sound."

Always searching for the right reed, mouthpiece, horn.....never happy with his sound
Maybe all our gear obsessions are part of the sax process after all!

 

[Keith Ridenhour]

Re: Interview Pharoah Sanders: "buying his first horn, playing with John Coltrane, and searching for the right sound."

Great interview. Most musicians I respect are always searching K

 

[Karl391]

Re: Interview Pharoah Sanders: "buying his first horn, playing with John Coltrane, and searching for the right sound."

A true artist ,forever humble, forever searching.Nice interview.Thank you.

 

[rhythmisking]

Re: Interview Pharoah Sanders: "buying his first horn, playing with John Coltrane, and searching for the right sound."

That was really interesting; not the sort of talk you usually hear from someone considered a 'master'. Pharaoh was a big influence on me when I got serious about playing sax as a teenager in high school, sort of a living link to Coltrane (who had died the year I started playing sax in 3rd grade). I always felt a certain unpretentiousness is his playing that made him seem more accessible. Coltrane was like a god to me then, but as a kid looking for sax heroes, Sanders felt more inspiring; somehow making me feel 'I could do that'.

 

[JL]

Re: Interview Pharoah Sanders: "buying his first horn, playing with John Coltrane, and searching for the right sound."

Thanks for posting that interview, Neil. I enjoyed reading it. I used to see Pharoah Sanders play way back in the early '70s on a fairly regular basis. I think he may have been living in Oakland then, or at least he played a lot in the Bay Area at the time. I remember his playing being very high energy, beautiful, soulful, and he could really make the horn 'scream' in a fantastic way.

In the interview he is very humble, but I'd say he sells himself a bit short. He is a real master and it's kind of stunning to hear him say he rarely likes his sound on recordings; then when I opened that clip of him playing "Berkeley Square" he's playing so beautifully with a huge, rich tone quality!

 

[BigBen23]

Re: Interview Pharoah Sanders: "buying his first horn, playing with John Coltrane, and searching for the right sound."

Awesome interview. I absolutely love it when either I or someone else just sits down with one of the older cats and gets to pick their brain.